A Scorpion Christmas
by PasoFinoLove
Summary: Team Scorpion and a Christmas holiday spent in a cabin in Colorado. What could possibly happen?
1. Chapter 1

"…And so, Ralphie Boy, that's the story of me scaring three children on Christmas Day when I was 12." Toby concluded with a sneer on his face, and started to laugh with Ralph in the backseat. Happy rolled her eyes, "For once, I have genuinely enjoyed a story of yours." Toby feigned hurt and slapped his hand against his chest, "Way to keep up the Christmas spirit, Hap…"

The mechanic glared at the shrink through the rearview mirror. "Says the person who terrorized kids by putting a balloon of red food coloring in the head of a snowman and ruthlessly stabbed it with a knife, causing the food coloring to squirt out, looking like blood. That's _definitely_ the Christmas spirit." Ralph giggled.

Toby decided to change the subject, "So how much longer until we get to the cabin?"

"About two hours, depending on how much snow is up there."

After half an hour of persuading, Paige and Cabe got the team to agree with going on a vacation for the winter holiday. Paige did research online and rented a cabin by the Rocky Mountains in the tranquil city of Nathrop, Colorado. The team settled on taking two cars: Happy, Toby, and Ralph with half of the luggage; Paige, Walter, Cabe, and Sylvester with the items that wouldn't fit with the other three.

"Toby, check out all of the snow up here!" Ralph mused as he pressed his face to the frosty window. The shrink followed his gaze. "Wow, that is neat!" Toby grinned, "But it isn't as amazing as my sugar plum…"

"Shut up."

"I hope Ralph's okay," Paige whispered against Walter's shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. He is probably enjoying being with Toby and Happy." Walter assured. Paige smiled, "Unless the two of them are arguing, as usual." The genius chuckled, "I think he would still be enjoying himself."

"Please tell me that there will be no wild animals up there," Sylvester fretted, hands folded in his lap anxiously. Cabe looked at him using the rearview mirror, "Kid, you will be alright." Sly pumped some hand sanitizer on his hands, "But what about the insects that carry diseases? Do you guys have any idea how deadly they can be?" Paige turned around and leaned forward. "Sylvester, no one is going to get sick or hurt. You can trust me." She smiled at him. "Have I ever put you into any danger?"

"No."

"See? You'll be fine," she turned back around and leaned against Walter. "This is going to be a great vaca-"

Suddenly, a forceful impact caused the car to spin on a thin sheet of ice. "Walter!" Paige screeched. Walter unbuckled himself and used his body to shield her, "I got you," he assured her. Sylvester held his backpack over his head and Cabe wrapped his arms over his head as well.

The spinning stopped, and all they heard was the loud silence. "Is everyone okay?" Cabe asked and shifted himself around to face everyone else. They all nodded, and Sylvester started to hyperventilate. "I'm going to check the damage," announced Cabe as he stepped out of the car. He walked around the vehicle and noticed a humongous dent on the front. He checked the engine and cursed. Walter, Paige, and Sly got out of the vehicle and headed over to Cabe. "It looks like a hit and run," Cabe gestured to the dent.

"And we aren't going to be going anywhere unless one of you magically turns into Happy," the agent stated.

Walter sighed. "We can't just stay here. So we need grab our stuff and start walking." They gather their belongings and start walking. "Do any of you guys know where we are?" Sly asked nervously. "The last time I checked, we were in Salida. Nathrop is approximately 42.7 miles away. How long will it take for us to get there, Sly?" asked Walter.

"If we keep a steady, continuous pace, based on the snowy terrain and the temperature... It will be around 14 hours and 50 minutes."

Paige sighed. "It's getting pretty chilly out here." She rubs her hands over her arms.

"Why don't you put on your jacket?" Walter wondered.

"I left it back in the SUV."

"Oh." Walter took his jacket off. "Here, use mine," he held it over to her.

Paige smiled. "I can't."

"Please, just take it."

She gently picked it up and put it around her. "Thank you, Walter."

Happy pulled into a dirt road that stretched out as far as the eye could see, just as the sky started to turn black. "Almost there," she said with a yawn. Hearing no response, she looked behind her and felt her heart melt. Ralph was fast asleep on Toby's lap, and Toby had an arm wrapped protectively around the young boy. Happy knew she was going to regret it, especially if Toby found out, but she took out her phone and snapped a picture.

The headlights on her truck made everything around her absolutely beautiful. At one point, trees were bended over, making a canopy over them. It amazed her that she could get a good view of the moon because they were away from the city lights. She turned into the cabin's driveway and parked, letting out a huge yawn. Happy hopped out of the truck and opened the door that was on Toby's side.

She shook his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Come on, help me with the stuff." Toby carefully closed the door and assisted Happy carry in the supplies. "I'll get Ralph," she volunteered when they finished. She went outside and opened up the car door, "Hey, Ralph," she whispered and placed a hand on his shoulder. The boy drearily opened his eyes and yawned. Happy placed her arms under Ralph's arms and picked him up. She kicked the door closed with her foot and walked back into the cabin.

Happy laid Ralph on the couch and went to go find Toby. She found him in the bathroom, shirtless, washing his face with a washcloth. She snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Tired…" she mumbled against his back. Toby set down the cloth. "I know. I'll be there in a minute." Happy found the room they would be sharing, it had a king sized bed with a closet on one wall and a window. She took off her shirt and put on one of Toby's and replaced her pants with a pair of shorts. Before she got in the bed, she went to check on Ralph. He was still asleep on the couch. Happy left him there, just in case the rest of the team arrived later.


	2. Chapter 2

Hours passed by and everyone was growing tired. Their legs were cramping and aching. Small talk was exchanged throughout the trek, but it stopped quickly. It was getting colder by the hour, not helping anyone's joints.

How were they supposed to keep doing this for another 10 hours?

"We need to take a break," Paige insisted. The sky was pitch black and spotted with stars. It was under 30 degrees. "If we stop, we'll lose momentum," Walter stated. But he sounded out of breath. "Paige's right," mumbled Cabe. "If we take a break, we can save some more energy for tomorrow." The team leader sighed. "Fine." It took them all awhile to find a comfortable, and warm, place to rest. They found a lean in on an abandoned farm. Huddling close together to radiate body heat, they all slowly fell asleep.

A tiny bit of sunlight streaming in the window woke Toby up. Not wanting to disturb the calmly sleeping Happy, he carefully got up from the bed. He went out to the living room to check Ralph. The young genius was fast asleep. Toby ruffled his hair, "Ralph." The boy blinked his eyes open and looked up at him. "Are they here?" he asked. Toby shook his head. "Not yet." Ralph frowned. "Hey, it's okay buddy. How about we make breakfast for us and Happy?" Nodding excitedly, Ralph jumped off the couch and ran into the kitchen.

When Paige booked the cabin, she kindly asked the owner to stock the kitchen with food, because they wouldn't be able to bring it from California.

Toby and Ralph took out the eggs, milk, bacon, and frozen orange juice concentrate. Ralph fixed the orange juice and cracked the eggs in a bowl while Toby cooked the bacon on the stove. When the bacon finished, Toby made up the scrambled eggs. The two of them were telling each other stories and jokes when they heard the floor creak. Toby turned around to find Happy walking in, with her hair frizzed at the top, almost like a halo.

"Look who's finally up," Toby said as he went over to her. He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, but she slapped him away. "I'm not looking," Ralph said, staring out the window. Toby laughed and kissed Happy on the forehead instead. "We made breakfast."


	3. Chapter 3

Toby, Happy, and Ralph finished eating their breakfast and cleared the table. Ralph went into the room he would be sharing with Sylvester to start a game of single player chess created by him and Walter. The two adults began to wash the dishes. Happy washed them; Toby dried and put them away.

They were silent for awhile, but Toby being the annoying person he will always be, broke the silence. "Hey Happy," he said in his jokester voice. "Hey Happy." Happy picked up a fork and scrubbed at it with the sudsy rag. "What?" she groaned. "Hey Happy!" Toby said again.

"What?!"

He leaned close to her ear, "I love you." Happy punched his shoulder, "Shut up, dope." But she smiled back at him.

"Hey Happy?" But it wasn't Toby this time, it was actually Ralph. She looked up from her motorcycle magazine she was reading on the couch. "Have you heard anything about my mom?" he asked. Happy sighed, "I haven't. They probably took more stops than we did and no longer have cell signal." The boy nodded. "Okay." He sat down next to Happy. Leaning his head on her shoulder, he studied the machines with her.

"Check out the paint job on that Harley," Ralph said and pointed to a bike on the right page. "Nice," Happy mused. She pointed to the engine. "Look at the detail..." she whispered.

Meanwhile, Toby stood in the hallway and watched the two of them in the living room.

"Where do you think they are?" Happy asked Toby as they watched a DVD from the selection Toby brought. "I'm not sure. They should be fine; we stopped a missile from launching after all." Happy nodded.

They went back to watching their movie. "You're amazing," Toby whispered. "Hm?" Happy glanced up at him. "I saw you with Ralph earlier, you were so good with him."

"It's just because he's a genius; I understand him," Happy said nonchalantly. Toby shook his head. "I think it's because you care about him." He kissed the top of her head.

Toby didn't watch the rest of the movie, he actually daydreamed about having a little girl or boy (maybe both) sitting in between them. And Happy would be running her had through their hair and he would be tickling their neck.

He thought about that quite often.


	4. Chapter 4

Five more hours. Five hours left of walking through snowy roads with sore feet. Their hands were turning red from the low temperatures and the tips of their noses cold to the touch. Walter's arms became pale from being exposed to the air. He kept hovering around Paige to make sure she was alright at every single second.

"Guys, look!" Sylvester exclaimed. "We're here!" He pointed to a big green sign that said _Welcome_ _to_ _Nathrop, Colorado._

Cabe, Paige, and Walter sighed with relief when they reached the sign. "It should be an hour until we reach the cabin," Cabe said as they moved forward.

About twenty minutes later, the group came across a small town with shops. Some people were walking around bundled in coats, gloves, and scarves. The team must have stuck out like the tallest kid in elementary school, because everyone looked at them and pointed to a shop with multiple signs.

Paige took this as a command and led them in the direction they were pointing to. She opened the squeaky door and they filed inside. The floors creaked underneath them.

"I'll be a second," a woman called from somewhere. Cabe glanced around, and was followed by his friends. Footsteps echoed towards their direction. "How may hel-" the woman started, but stopped short at the sight in front of her. "Oh dear!"

She ran into the direction she came from and arrived back with blankets. "Here you guys go, come follow me." The woman led them to a small back room that smelled like rotting wood. In one corner, a rack was filled with hoodies claiming Colorado was THE place to be.

The lady came back in with steaming mugs of some beverage. "Help yourselves. I'm Patrice, by the way." Walter and Cabe nodded in agreement while Sylvester grinned and Paige whispered a thank you. "There's a phone right over there," Patrice pointed to a small, round table in the corner, "that you can use." She left and softly closed the door behind her.

Cabe picked up the landline and dialed the number for the cabin.

Ringing filled the cabin. "Toby, can you get that?!" Happy yelled from the bathroom. She mumbled under her breath, "Still outside..." Hurriedly, she tied the towel around her and ran out. "Canyon Cabin," she said to the phone.

"It's Cabe."

Happy sighed and leaned against the wall. "Finally decided we were good enough to spend vacation with, huh?" she joked. "What happened you guys?"

"SUV was hit; we had to walk back. We're in the back room of some shop that should be a couple minutes nearby," Cabe replied. "Okay, then. I'll get Toby and Ralph back inside and we'll pick you up." Happy put back the phone as Toby came in the front door. His face was red and he was covered in snow. "Get Ralph and yourself cleaned up, we need to get the others."

Toby convinced Happy to let him and Ralph get them so she could finish her shower.

They pulled up to the shop and walked inside. "Your saviors are here for you!" Toby shouted with his arm held out wide. Paige, Walter, Sly, and Cabe walked over to them with their suitcases. "Let's just go," Cabe grumbled as he passed by him.


	5. Chapter 5

"Toby, that's not how it works!" Paige laughed as she stared down at the red cards in front of her. "What? The purpose of Apples to Apples is to put out a red card that matches the green card. That's what I did!" Toby fought. Happy shook her head. "You put down yourself for 'manly.' You are not manly."

"How so?!"

"You almost peed in Fort Knox," Walter informed.

"You were scared for awhile to ask Happy out," Paige said.

"There is no proof there," Toby said nonchalantly.

"You have been scared to wake me up in the mornings," Happy pointed out with a smirk. "If that doesn't disprove your so-called manliness, I don't know what else could." Toby groaned. "Fine."

"So who won?" Sylvester asked, shuffling his cards. Paige sighed, "John Wayne." Cabe grinned as he picked up the green card on the center of the table. "John Wayne never fails."

"Old man..." Toby muttered. Cabe slapped him.

"Okay, okay! No more violence!" Paige pleaded. "Sly, your turn."

Sylvester picked up a card and read it aloud, "Awkward." The team looked at their cards and handed one to Sly. He read them. "The Midwest. Sailors. Rolling the car. Infomercials. Fly fishing. A school bus. My 16th birthday."

"Seriously?" Ralph gaped. "That's the best you guys could come up with?"

"My 16th birthday was awkward," Happy said flatly. "Your foster parents decide they don't want the orphan that lives in their house to be the most hated girl in school, so they invite over every single kid to their house and surprise the orphan with the people that hate her."

Everyone stared at her blankly.

"Happy wins," Sly said and quickly handed her the green card.

The team continued to play that game for an hour. On the last round, everyone was arguing over who should win.

"My card should win!" Walter argued. "Intellectuals are _very_ important!"

"But intellectuals aren't the basis of all life!" Paige fought back.

Finally, they all agreed to not have a winner.

"I'm never playing Apples to Apples with geniuses ever again..." Cabe mumbled as he left the living room.

"Everybody! Listen up!" Paige called as she stepped into the busy kitchen the next morning. Nobody listened. "Listen up!" She picked up a wooden spatula and whacked the refrigerator with it.

They stopped what they were doing in mid-action and stared at her.

"I have an itinerary set up for the next couple of days leading up to Christmas Eve. Today, we are driving up to St. Elmo's ghost town. Tomorrow, we are going out to Salida. Then the day after that, we'll walk to the meadow across from Love Ranch. The next day will be a free day. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded their heads and went back to getting their breakfast. "We're leaving at 9:00," Paige added.

"It's already 8:40!" Ralph exclaimed.

"Then you guys better hurry up, because I won't wait," Paige took a bagel from the counter and walked away.

"Dang, Walter. Quite a girl you got there," Toby joked. Walter elbowed him.


	6. Chapter 6

After driving for 15 minutes up the mountain, they pulled into, well, a ghost town. Old buildings, log fences, and walkways covered in dust-just the perfect representation of a ghost town. "Is this place sanitary?" Sylvester asked, not moving away from the car. "What do you think? People haven't lived here in hundreds of years and tourists have wandered around here," Happy said as she gestured around her. Paige glared at the mechanic, "All of that may be true, but the state has assured that it's safe for everyone." Sly nodded and caught up with the group.

"Now where to start, group leader?" Toby said with a smirk. Paige took it seriously and pointed to the right. "We'll look at the buildings first, then we can go to the junk yard."

The team followed her.

The town had a few buildings that were still standing, but most were gone. One building, the jailhouse, was being restored to its former glory.

All of the other buildings were houses. In some of them, you could see some memorabilia. Including blankets and clothing.

When everyone was finished looking around, they went over to the junk yard. Sylvester stood a yard away from it, but the others went in. Happy was having a blast examining all of the tools and machines. She knew exactly what they were and when they were used. Walter and Paige went into the souvenir shop instead. Walter made fun of the 'extremely difficult' crossword puzzles as Paige admired the items in the jewelry case. The genius saw that she was fond of a necklace in the top right corner.

When Paige left the shop to round up the rest of the team, Walter went over to the clerk by the case. "Excuse me, ma'am?" The clerk turned to face him. "Can you put that on hold or anything?"

"I sure can."

That night, after they got back to the cabin, everyone sat on the couch and talked the night away.


	7. Chapter 7

The day in Salida consisted of shopping, shopping, and more shopping. And eating. But mostly shopping.

First, they stopped by the shop that Cabe, Sly, Walter, and Paige went to warm up when they arrived. Now that they were relaxed, they could actually see what to store looked like. Little trinkets and candies lined the shelves with handcrafted wind chimes hanging from the ceiling. Toby cracked up at the chocolate covered raisins that were in a package that said "Bear Crap." That resulted in a punch in the shoulder by Happy. Walter, Ralph, and Sly made fun of the board games as Cabe studied the wooden sculptures. Paige liked the wind chimes.

There was a small cafe inside the shop, so everyone got a warm coffee, but Ralph had to get hot chocolate despite his protests.

With steaming drinks in hand, they left that shop and went across the street to an antique place. Paige and Cabe were the only ones interested, so the geniuses stood in the entryway-and secretively bought ten bags of kettle corn that they found by the cash register. They came out of the shop and sat in the back, eating their kettle corn. Toby and Happy were eating the s'more flavor, Walter ate the cinnamon (because he knew Paige liked it), and Sly and Ralph ate the red licorice.

Cabe and Paige finally came out of the store to find five miserable geniuses with sticky fingers and bags of kettle corn on the ground in front of them. Two bags were empty, one was partially eaten, and the rest were unopened. Paige handed each of them a wipe to clean their hands and loaded them back into the vehicle.

"Will you guys be able to eat lunch after all that sugar?" Paige asked as she turned around in her seat. They all nodded. "Skipping a meal because you're full is for the weak," Toby mumbled. Ralph nodded in agreement. Happy just opened up the bag of caramel apple kettle corn and began to eat from it. "Happy, you've had too much sugar," Paige said. The mechanic shook her head. "I'm practically thirty years old, I can eat as much sugar as I please."

Paige turned back around in her seat. "Paige," Walter picked up the cinnamon bag, "I saved you some cinnamon." He handed it to her. She smiled at him.

That night, the cabin was filled with five sick geniuses. Ralph and Walter were on the couch, Sylvester was reclining on a chair, and Toby and Happy were sharing a warm bath. Every now and then, someone would groan or sound like they were going to puke. Actually, that's the first thing Happy did when they arrived back at the cabin-throw up in the garbage can. Paige told her, "I told you so," with a grin.

The next day, at 5:00 PM, since the geniuses were feeling better, they walked down the snow covered road bundled in jackets and scarves to Love Ranch. Ralph brought his binoculars to look at the massive mountains in front of him. Everything was covered in snow, making it feel like a winter wonderland. It sparked some scary memories of the white out in Antarctica, but those thoughts were quickly pushed down by the happiness of being with their family. They didn't stay that long, because the temperature was dropping quickly. Back in the cabin, everyone got warm by the fireplace and did some Mad Libs. Here are some of their favorites:

Snow White at the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage- My name is Snow White, and I am hiding from my SMART stepmother, PAIGE, at the Seven Dwarfs' cottage in the GARAGE. It is a CRAPPY little place with a roof made of WRENCHES. Since the dwarfs are letting me stay here, I help out by dusting the BOOKS, cooking INTELLIGENT dinners, and washing their CHEESES. The dwarfs and I have become really close FEDORAS and enjoy one another's STETHOSCOPES very much. Their names are Sleepy, Happy, HAPPY QUINN, TOBY CURTIS, Doc, Sneezy, and DUMB. The dwarfs and I share many UNEFFECIENT interests. We especially like to sing, "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to LOS ANGELES we go!" Oh, sorry, have to run now. There's a sweet, old PSYCHIATRIST at the door selling apples.

Man on the Street Interviews- This is roving reporter Perry Winkle, and I'm here in KOVELSKY'S to ask folks today's random question: "What is the first thing you would do if you ruled the world?" Responses ranged from intelligent to downright INCONSPICUOUS. Here's a sampling: PAIGE from WALMART said, "I'd make sure everyone had plenty of of healthy BARBECUE SAUCES to eat and a warm, safe CHALLENGE to live in." An up-and-coming GENIUS by the name of JOHN WAYNE said, "I would give each man, woman, and BUSINESS a job. It's important to use your mind or your LIPS to work and make the world a better place." HAPPY from CBS TELEVISION STUDIOS said, "There'd be no wars. People would only be allowed to CHIN wrestle one another, but then they'd PSYCHOBABBLE and make up." Local comedian TOBY said, "I would require every citizen to address me by my superhero name-HOT SAUCE Man!"

The next day, everyone slept in because it was a free day. But, Toby and Walter had different plans they didn't know about. Toby was about to leave the cabin when Walter spotted him. "Toby?" Walter whispered. The behaviorist stopped dead in his tracks. "Where are you going?"

"I need to buy some stuff," Toby replied. Walter slipped on his shoes and jacket. He picked up his wallet and came to the door. "I need to pick up something for Paige," Walter said. The men drove up to the ghost town in silence.

When they finished their tasks, they drove down to the city and bought wrapping paper and other miscellaneous Christmas items to cover their tracks. They walked in to Paige and Happy having a very serious conversation at the table. Paige stopped midsentence and took a long sip from her mug of coffee. Toby kissed Happy's head as he went into their bedroom. Walter smiled at Paige and disappeared from the room. "I think they are up to something," Paige said. Happy rubbed her neck, "When aren't they up to something?" Paige laughed.


End file.
